Weblore:Season of Dawn: Difference between revisions

“You should come with me,” the Lightbearer said to the three of them. “Humanity must unite. There is a [[The Last City|foundation]] forming under the [[Traveler]]. Let me take you there.”

“We would never make it,” Jasleen's father growled, fumbling with his bow drill. “We can't afford to dream like you can.”

“I would protect you,” the Titan said.

“My neighbor says [[Dreg]]s eat children,” Jasleen said, to break the silence.

“I've seen it,” the Titan replied.

“I feel sorry for them. The Dregs.”

The Titan looked down at her for a moment, then swept his gaze across the ruin of their lives. “What is their suffering compared to yours? You lost everything today. And still, it was a good day, as these days go.”

She craned her neck to look up at him. “What do you mean?”

“About what?”

“Why is it a good day?”

“I did not arrive too late to help. I did not die today—”

“Do you worry about dying?” she interrupted.

“I worry about not helping.”

“Have you ever lost a fight?”

“More than I can count. I am no [[Ikora Rey]]. No [[Radegast]].”

“Who are they?”

“Guardians, like me.”

Jasleen shrugged, her skinny shoulders sharp under her ratty tunic. “That's okay. You're my favorite.”

“We remember those who help us.”

“Has anyone ever helped you?”

He nodded. “Yes. Oh, yes.”

“Who? The [[Speaker]]?”

He thinks for a moment before replying. “No. A [[Guardian]], like me. Saved me from the Fallen when I was young, when I had lost everyone I was meant to protect. That Guardian is why humanity must go to the Traveler.”

Jasleen furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“That Guardian's [[Ghost]] and [[Light]] showed me a vision of humanity's potential. The land beneath the Traveler becomes a place of safety. I—”

As her mother and father moved to help prepare their dinner, Jasleen undid the bow in her hair and motioned the Guardian to come closer. She wrapped it around the Titan's gauntlet. “I think that's going to take a long time,” she said.

“Maybe.” He stared down at his arm. “On that day, I will bring this with me.”

“What's your name?” she asked.

“[[Saint-14|Saint]],” he said.

“I'll remember it.”

He turned and asked quietly, “Where do you hail from?”

“[[Patch Run]],” the woman replied.

He nodded. “[[Lin]] sent me to look for you.”

The woman scoffed and sheathed her weapon. “She was supposed to go to the Traveler.”

“She made it. All the way,” he replied. “They both did.” He raised his armored hand, wrapped tight with a purple cloth, and keyed a switch on his helmet. “Jumpship will be here shortly. We'll get you home.”

“Who gave you that ribbon?”

“An old friend. Probably about your age, now.”

“How long do you people live?”

“We don't know.”

“What is this?”

“Your friend is clever. If I leave this with you, I'll live forever.”

“Make a mark on this world,” she said. “Don't waste the time you have.”

“Yes, ma'am,” he replied.

“None of this bothers you?” he asked, gesturing at the bodies and the raging storm outside.

“Everything bothers me,” she said, sitting back down on the couch.

“What was your name again?”

“[[Mei]].”

“I will remember it.”

As the metal rain faded, so did the Guardian's Light. The two stood up. The Titan pulled a Daystar SMG2 from a back holster, checked to see if it was loaded, and handed it to the Awoken. “You are lucky. The Fallen shot you down twenty miles from the Traveler. They will not bother you again. Head due south,” he pointed, and turned to leave. But the pilot tapped his shoulder guard.

“Yes?”

“You're joking.”

“I have nothing else to give,” the pilot said. “That ship was my life.”

The Titan stared down at the man. “You've found a new life. Go to the Traveler.”

“It's bad luck to not give Saint-14 his due.”

Saint grasped the cloth. “What is your name?”

“[[Georges]],” the pilot replied.

“I will remember it.”

“Saint carried these ribbons everywhere,” she whispered.

“He called them his 'accolades,'” Osiris replied.

“What were they for?”

“Vanguard Commander Saint-14,” said Osiris. “What a ludicrous title.”

“The Consensus wants a new leader in the wake of… all of this,” Saint replied. He shook his head as he gestured at the destruction beyond the City limits. “It's time.”

“You'll serve them well,” Osiris replied, manipulating a cube-shaped device into an array of smaller hexahedrons that floated between his fingers. Vex components, Saint thought.

“But… I'm afraid it's not a title I can keep.”

“Father has plans for me,” Saint continued.

“Giving up Commandership in one day? That's a record. So go. Be a Titan for the Speaker. After this madness, they will need you to rebuild.”

“I put the Titan aside for this mission. I'm a soldier. There is… difficult work to be done.”

Osiris narrowed his eyes. “What has he asked you to do this time?”

“Take the fight to the Fallen. Seek them out beyond our borders, find them wherever they are. Strike first and hard.”

“This is precisely what I mean when I say the Speaker likes to lead you astray,” Osiris muttered to his cubes.

“You would not say that if you saw what the Fallen have done to our people out there. You've forgotten how to see.”

“The Fallen are not so different from us. How hard would you fight if the Light were taken from you?”

“Those stories ring false to me,” said Saint. “They are not a noble people. I've fought them, and so have you.”

“I have not fought them all,” the Warlock replied, pulling his hands apart to create an intricate web of hovering cubes and points of light. “They are nothing, no threat—not like the Vex. Not like the Darkness.”

Saint stepped close enough to breathe on Osiris. “Look past the wall, brother. Are you blind?”

Osiris folded the device into his palm and met the Titan's gaze. “You know I'm the only one watching the whole canvas.”

“But you've lost sight of why we fight.”

Osiris turned away and tossed the cubes again to form a miniature constellation in the twilight sky. “As ex-Commander, you have the power to dictate a replacement, should you choose. Who's it going to be?”

“I have recommended you for the position of Vanguard Commander.”

“You want to give me control over the databases? The Vaults? Jurisdiction over Owl Sector, access to the Last City grimoire?”

“I want you to protect our people,” Saint said. “For all our disagreements—you're one of the few who can.”

“We don't have the resources to do this twice,” Saint continued. “I fought representatives of every House across this conflict. It was a joint effort to exterminate us. If threat should come to the City ever again, you'll have to fight in my stead.”

“I accept,” Osiris said quickly.<ref>'''Bungie, (12/5/2019), [[Weblore]]:''' ''[https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/48435 Vanguard Commander]''</ref>

“I don't know about this,” she said.  

“I have full confidence. It's your design.”

“That work was theoretical! If the Vanguard find out what you did to build it—“

“If this works, the Vanguard will find out either way.”

“I know you feel guilty, but there's no telling what will happen if you turn this thing on.”

“He's dead because of me. I've made every precaution. I've had my Echoes check against trillions of disaster scenarios.” He turned to look at the fluctuating glow of the exposed chronometric core. “Mercury is the only planet that will be affected. Because that's where he died.”

“Where will this stop? Who else will you decide deserves a second chance?”

“You know I can't make another bargain like this one.”

“I just want to make sure you know that.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” came a far-off, echoing shout. “No! That ain't right!”

Sagira narrowed her eye at the rogue Lightbearer and lowered herself to Osiris's shoulder. “Why's he here?” she asked quietly.

“I asked him to consult on the engineering work,” Osiris replied, crossing his arms.

“You sicko,” the other man declared, walking a circle around the Warlock, his eyes darting along every surface of the Sundial around them.

As the Drifter rapped his knuckles on the north pylon, he mumbled, “Ghost, do the numbers.” An armored Ghost with a red eye unfolded out of transmat and began a scan pattern on each Sundial spire.

Drifter walked to the central spire and put his ear up against it. “This core…” he said, leaning close. His eyes darted back to Osiris. “It's whispering.”

Osiris's expression didn't change; his arms didn't uncross. “We'll seal the core away. I understand the ramifications.”

“Good luck keeping that contained. Not something I would bargain with, hotshot.” Drifter stood up and beckoned his Ghost with two fingers. It floated earthward and unleashed a holographic array of statistics along the Sundial deck.  

“Your math checks out,” he said, finally, as his Ghost folded away. “It'll work. But will you find him? At the exact moment that you need? No guarantees.”

“Let me worry about that,” Osiris said.

“Just one more question, then. Why all the fuss?”

“I owe him.”

“I owe a lotta people, Warlock. You're opening the gates of hell with a Vex key.”

“When the Traveler brought me back, I had no friends. No family—”

“No one had anything in the Dark Age.”

“But Saint was always there. And I saw him grow from neophyte to demigod.”

Drifter shrugged. “We've all had to flex a little. Win a gun fight or two. It's why we're still here.”

“We all gain strength. But some Lightbearers never grasp a wider view of the world. They're happy to stick to their ways… languish. When they could be so much more.”

Drifter chuckled and spat, saluting Osiris with a single finger. “I get by.”

“Of course you do. I'm like you.”

“But Saint faced his fears and failure better than any of us, and never strayed from his path. He should get a chance to walk to the end.”

“He already did. But I'll leave you to your devices. You lunatic.” The Drifter turned, hands in his pockets, to leave. “If you short-circuit the universe, you're on your own.”

“If I make a mistake here, you might cease to exist,” Osiris replied.

“Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.”

“We haven't talked about payment.”

“If you live through this little experiment, you can be sure I'll be back to collect.”

“Go home. There's a Guardian you should meet,” Osiris said.

“Yeah, yeah. Hero. Red War. Can't wait.”

''An Echo spies Saint from a vantage point on the high plains of the Fields of Glass. The Titan fights for his life against purple-bannered Fallen, bearing the same symbol as modern Dusk soldiers. They are the [[House of Rain]], the lowest House. The burning camp around them is curiously absent of bodies—but Osiris has heard Saint tell this story before. One of Saint's first missions for the Speaker brought him to Mercury in a failed attempt to “re-take” that planet for humanity. They had not known at the time that the Vex had already started to transform the “garden world” into a machine. House Rain followed Saint's jumpship and waited 'til the expedition had made camp. Then the Fallen annihilated the colonists Saint was charged to protect and beat him to within an inch of his life. The Echo lives that story first-hand now, and finds himself looking away at the terraformed vegetation at his feet instead. It's already half machine—grass and metal blades growing beside each other under his boots. A Ketch roars down from the sky and rains heavy munitions on the battlefield, and the Echo's vantage point fills with rolling clouds of dust. The Echo takes his leave. He's seen enough.''

Sagira hovered over his shoulder and asked, hopefully, “Did it work?”

The Warlock stood, and made his way to the southern border of the Sundial. “Shut it down. Wrap everything in a stealth skin. Let nothing, no one, find it.”

“Dammit,” she whispered.<ref>'''Bungie, (12/6/2019), [[Weblore]]:''' ''[https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/48436 The Sundial]''</ref>

“Start it up, Sagira,” he said.

“Sure you don't want to take a break today?” she asked, unfolding above him like a crown.

“The Vex won't.”

Nothing moved. The Warlock frowned, lit a Solar spark and held it up. It illuminated nothing around him. “Did something go wrong with the sequence?”

“I just triple-checked. No,” she replied. “This is it. This is the simulation.”

“Go ahead, Osiris,” Ikora said.

“What's happening out there?” he replied.

“Take your pick. We're at war on the Moon again. The Vex attacked.”

“And?”

“We retaliated. [[The Undying Mind]] is dead.”

“How?”

“A plan. And mutual friends.”

“Our mutual friends just changed all projected futures in the Infinite Forest.”

“You don't sound happy about that.”

“I'll be in touch.” He cut the transmission. “Where are we?” he asked Sagira.

“Where we always are. Simulated Mercury.”

“How far does this void reach?”

“All the way to the Traveler, for all I know.”

“Take us there.”

“We're here,” she confirmed, as he found gravelly purchase under his boots. He had never heard her sound so unsure of herself.

“When does this happen?”

“The Forest predictions give a window of two or three decades, depending on a multitude of variables. With a not-insignificant chance for acceleration based on specific elements.”

“What elements?”

“Actions of mutual friends.”

“Kill the simulation. Get me to Mercury.”<ref>'''Bungie, (12/7/2019), [[Weblore]]:''' ''[https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/48437 Actions of Mutual Friends]''</ref>

“Small disturbances,” said oldest [[Ozletc, the Sky Piercer|Ozletc]], the wisest. “Little currents in this timeline. Can you see them, sister?”

“I can taste them,” said second-born [[Tazaroc, the Sun Eater|Tazaroc]], the hungriest of her sisters. “I can feel the edges.”

Third-born [[Niruul, the Hollow Voice|Niruul]], the quietest among them, reached her hand out to test the air. “As can I,” said she. “And something else. The source is disguised. The technology is Human, but refined. Surprisingly so.”

“Disable it,” said Tazaroc, who was impatient. “It is leaking. I wish to see the leak.”

“It whispers,” said Tazaroc.

“Then block your ears,” said Ozletc. “Do you see the potential in this?”

“Chaos,” said Niruul.

“No,” said Ozletc. “Opportunity. See how it tugs at the fabric of our time? Can you see the seams?”

“It will take time to activate,” said Niruul. “Someone has protected it from meddling.”

“We will have time,” said Ozletc. “We will open the past and change the course of Ghaul's fate. Anticipate his mistakes. Undercut his advisors.”

“Why?” said Tazaroc.

“Because he could be swayed to our purposes,” said Ozletc. “He was a fool, but he could be puppeteered. Led to a more advantageous downfall.”

“But why not go back further?” said Tazaroc, eager. “To dash the whelp's skull in the pit, before he crawls out onto a throne?”

“Risky,” said Niruul, shaking her head. “Why not tear into the future instead, and make our attack where the Guardians cannot predict it?”

“Predictions are not their strength,” said Tazaroc.

“And yet they have built this,” snapped Niruul.

“Sisters,” Ozletc said. “We needn't argue. This device will let us walk through future and past both. And so we will cut the most advantageous path, whatever it may be.”

“It is so clear,” said Niruul, reverent. “An unobstructed glimpse into what was and what will be.”

“Not the troubled ramblings of a mad thing, like the [[OXA Machine|OXA]],” said Tazaroc.

“The past and future are at our fingertips, sisters,” said Ozletc. “Let us see what prospects they hold.”<ref>'''Bungie, (12/8/2019), [[Weblore]]:''' ''[https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/48438 Sisters]''</ref>

“Did the Vex corrupt him?” Aunor wondered.

“My Order just wants to know if he's real. Or some kind of Vex simulation. An Echo?” [[Harper]] said, paging through a datapad in his hands.

“You haven't left the Forest in years,” Ikora said to Osiris, the only one to address him directly.

“I need help,” Osiris replied.

“I know,” Ikora responded, hands clasped behind her back. She stared intently at her former mentor. Back in her Crucible days, that uncompromising gaze was often the last thing her opponents saw. Aunor glanced sidelong at her superior. Harper coughed and looked down at his datapad.

“Two years ago, Guardians entered the Infinite Forest,” Osiris continued. “They aided me in defeating the Axis Mind Panoptes, preventing a Vex apocalypse from befalling this system.

“In the process,” he looked between each of them in turn, “Some Guardians reported a body they found in the Forest depths.”

“Saint-14 never came back from that last mission to Mercury. We finally knew why. I reacted to it the only way I knew how.”

“By turning Mercury into a temporal weapon for the Cabal?” Aunor asked.

“You are awfully tranquil for a man who just doomed this system,” Harper said.

“You should rethink your career in Thanatonautics, Warlock Harper, if death frightens you so,” the exile replied. He nodded at Aunor. “I've made mistakes. I will continue to make them. The nature of my work requires it.”

“We should lock you away,” the Praxic replied. But there was no fire in it.

“There are others you've allowed to roam free. These are desperate times, Aunor,” Osiris said. “I think you know that.”

Harper opened his mouth to ask another question, but Ikora cut him off. “Give us a minute.”

Aunor ducked her head and Harper bristled, but both left without question. Alone with Osiris, Ikora said, “The Speaker was right to exile you.”

“We all make our own choices,” Osiris replied. “Like the Vex gateway you built to the Undying Mind. A strategy like that is exactly what the machines would not expect. And you knew the Guardians would deliver.”

“What's your point?”

“You think like I do. But you've done what I never could. Found a way to coexist with the Vanguard while keeping their fool necks above the water,” said Osiris.  

“If you think you're helping your case, you're not.”

“Time is broken on Mercury. I need help from our mutual friends.”

“I know that. My Hidden have scouted your Sundial. The Red Legion are loose in a time rift that's localized to the past, present, and future of Mercury.” She took a step closer to him, shoulders tense. “If we don't contain it, it's not going to stay that way for long. The rift will expand across the system.”

“I've created a mitigation network across Guardian space. I'm in control.”

“You are anything but—!”

“Saint deserved another chance.”

“So did Cayde! So did everyone we lost in the Red War.”

“We'll hunt the Cabal across every timeline they create within the Sundial. They'll never be able to exploit it.”

“You're damn right. Because you're going to mobilize the Guardians. You're going to fix this. And then you and I are going to have a long talk.”

“Mercury should be the least of your worries.”

“Excuse me?”

“Let's save it for the long talk.”<ref>'''Bungie, (12/9/2019), [[Weblore]]:''' ''[https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/48439 Desperate Times]''</ref>

“You know our purpose,” said Ozletc. “This crumbled timeline…”

“Will let us right the wrongs of Ghaul the Abdicated,” said Tazaroc. “And thus see our people…”

“Reborn,” said Niruul. “Loosed from our fetters.”

“I know your purpose,” said Amtec, who was the most beloved. She trembled in their massive presence. The three oldest sisters had begun the process of joining, known only to them through ancient texts of the mind, never accomplished in recent memory. It was a permanent metaconcert; an unbreakable bond of self-dissolution. Already their minds had begun to merge, and Amtec could see them being drawn closer, as if by some magnetic force in their bones.  

“Then you know,” said Ozletc.

“The consequences of our failure,” said Niruul.

“Together, we are stronger,” said Tazaroc.  

“Than any threat that may challenge us,” said Ozletc. “But should we fail…”

“Unlikely though it is,” said Tazaroc.

“You must succeed where we could not,” said Ozletc. “And so, you will join with us…”

“In mind,” said Niruul.

“But not in body,” said Tazaroc.

“And so our failure,” said Niruul.

“Will be your failure,” said Ozletc.

“And our revenge,” said Tazaroc.

“Will be your revenge,” said Ozletc.

“I understand,” she said, and she vowed to see that any threat that would harm her sisters would be annihilated so thoroughly that it would be wiped from living memory.<ref>'''Bungie, (2/4/2020), [[Weblore]]:''' ''[https://www.bungie.net/en/Explore/Detail/News/48504 Joining]''</ref>